


A Very Shakarian Christmas

by Sarahsaveme



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Die Hard References, Fluff, Holidays, Multi, New Year's Eve, New York City
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 19:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12918642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarahsaveme/pseuds/Sarahsaveme
Summary: Welcome to my self-indulgent Shakarian Christmas fic! Everyone is alive and happy because *~Christmas~* A one-shot. All characters belong to Bioware blah blah blah....





	A Very Shakarian Christmas

****

This is my gift from ksilverland on tumblr for the Mass Effect Holiday Cheer 2017, and it fits the opening of this fic so well that it deserves to be displayed for all to see! 

**Christmas Eve-Eve**

 

“Shepard, sweetie.  I know you’re doing this because you’re worried I’ll freeze, but I think I’ll be fine,” Garrus said as he began to unwind the large knit scarf from his neck.  It was sweet how Shepard doted on him.  He understood her concern seeing as this would be his first trip to Earth during a colder season, and Turians weren’t exactly known for their tolerance to the cold. Regardless, the clothes she had brought onto the Normandy during their last visit to the Citadel were a bit…...suffocating.

 

Ignoring him in her usual fashion, she continued to heave over-stuffed articles from her closet in his general direction.  “I know, Mr. Tough Guy.  You’ll handle the cold just fine, but let me remind you that mother is stationed in New York right now, and I’ll bet that’s more than you’re bargaining for.”  She retrieved the last bit of clothing for him, a pair of thick boots, and began packing her own bag.  

 

He admired her as she flew around their cabin packing this and that, hauling out another suitcase to pack the numerous wrapped presents...all of this while wearing a ridiculously bright green sweater with some sort of brown, horned creature on it.  What had she called it? A snow deer? No, that wasn’t right.  Regardless, she was adorable.  She always got this way around the holidays.  Something about them gave her a renewed sense of vibrancy, and he loved it.  Seeing her so carefree and excited made him love her that much more.

 

Once she was satisfied with all four of her large suitcases and Garrus’s one, she dragged them to the elevator and shoved a large coat and that itchy scarf back into Garrus’s hands.  “I know you think I’m crazy, but trust me.”  As they moved into the elevator and pressed the button to take them to the CIC, Joker’s voice came over the intercom.

 

“Good afternoon Normandy crew!  We have successfully docked here in New York.  Local time is 3pm, December 23rd, 2187.  Make sure to grab a jacket, kiddies, because the temperature is a warm eight degrees.  Have a great Christmas, or whatever the hell you celebrate, with your families.  See you in two weeks!”

 

Garrus smugly turned to Shepard and drawled, “I told you it wouldn’t be _that_ cold.”

 

The elevator doors swished open, and he picked up three of their suitcases.  Shepard, only having to carry two suitcases, passed him within a few strides and threw over her shoulder, “Yes, dear, but recall that America still operates in Fahrenheit.”

 

“They WHAT?!”

 

Making her way down the walkway towards the cockpit, she did her best to hide her incessant giggling at his sudden realizing that he was, in fact, screwed.  Ashley, Joker, Kaiden, EDI, Tali, Liara, Jack, Legion, and James were all waiting at the airlock.  Man, this was a wild crew to be having Christmas with, but neither of them would have it any other way.  As they made their approach, Shepard began throwing her heavy suitcases at Kaiden and James insisting that they were going to need the extra exercise after all the food they’d be eating these next few weeks, so they may as well start now.  

 

“Alright.  If you haven’t transferred your part of the payment for the house we are renting to my mother yet, for the love of GOD do it now.  I am not having her nag me the moment I walk through that door,” Shepard stated.  Sure enough, a few people sat their bags down and pulled up their omni-tools.  Shepard rolled her eyes but smiled.  Typical behavior for her little rag-tag family.  Garrus had thought her idea to rent a large house just outside the city was a great idea.  It would give everyone some room to stretch their legs, but they could spend the important days together.  

 

Once everyone had sent their share of credits and gathered their belongings, they made their way out of the airlock and into the biting cold of New York.  To use Jack’s words, ‘white bullshit’ was flying around everywhere, whipping itself up into funny shapes in the air.   _Snow_ , and lots of it.  Shepard turned around just at the end of the ramp to see Garrus still standing at the mouth of the airlock.  She simply raised a challenging eyebrow at him, silently informing him that their extra large skycar would not wait forever for him to become humble.  

 

Garrus looked at the scarf and jacket in his hands and begrudgingly layered them on.  This was not going to be fun.  He gathered his luggage and made his way down the ramp, the snow finding every tiny gap in his clothes and sticking to his hide.  Once he was beside Shepard, thoroughly chilled and displeased, they made their way to the waiting skycar to pass their bags to the attendant.  Before he could open the door to climb into the awaiting warmth, Shepard grabbed his arm and spun him around to her.  

 

Damn, did she look cute.  Her knitted hat with tiny animal ears on the side, the tip of her nose almost as red as her hair, the sparkle in her eyes, snow sticking to the ends of her hair… she was magical.

 

She pulled him down for a quick kiss before releasing him with a mischievous grin.  He laughed and dragged her into the car.  There would be more time for fun later, and hopefully somewhere warmer.  

 

The drive didn’t take too long.  Not having to fight into the city two days before Christmas was a good call since the skyways leading to the outskirts of town were rather clear.  As they neared the house, it was clear to see why Shepard and her mother had chosen this location.  Set off on a large piece of property far away from the busy city streets sat a large, old home on a snow-covered hill surrounded by ethereal trees so ancient they looked like they could tell stories from times long forgotten.

 

Everyone was chatting about their lovely home for the next few weeks.  Shepard sat back in her seat and brushed imaginary dust from her shoulders.  Once again, she had outdone herself.  

 

The skycar descended and parked by the oversized, white front door.  Garrus let out a sigh of relief.  He didn’t want to walk any further than he had to in this snowstorm.  

 

Hannah Shepard had appeared outside the door in the time it took to land the skycar and start unloading the numerous bags.  “Sweetie!” she cried out as she ran down the steps to embrace her daughter.  Shepard returned her mother’s warm embrace and pulled back slightly to examine her dear mother.

 

“Mom, do you really have to be wearing the antler headband already? Can’t you wait until tomorrow?”

 

Hannah gave a toss of her head, causing the little bells attached to her headband to jingle merrily.  “I will wear this whenever I please.  No one will take a Rear Admiral seriously with these, so I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

 

Shepard laughed and gave her mother another hug.  Garrus loved watching them together.  They were so much more similar than either of them wanted to admit, but he believed they secretly knew it.

 

Their crew had mostly shuffled into the house leaving the three of them to be the last ones in.  Hannah had laid out folders with everyone’s names giving them a map to their rooms with other key locations within the home, and people were beginning to disperse to drop off their luggage before coming down for the light dinner that would be prepared soon.  The group had decided to forgo any services to save a few dollars but to also allow those potential service people to spend their holiday with their own families.  Besides, how hard could it be to cook and clean when everyone had agreed to pitch in?

 

Shepard dragged two of her suitcases over to the large living room in front of them and stopped, turning to her mother.  “Mom! How can we have Christmas with an undecorated tree?”  She stuck out her bottom lip in a pitiful pout.

 

Hannah rolled her eyes and pointed to a series of boxes off in a corner of the massive room.  “Worry not, dear child.  I had all our decorations shipped here from home.  You and your friends can decorate whenever you like.”

 

Shepard clapped her hands together with a giant smile on her face.  Garrus wrapped an arm around her and planted a kiss on top of her hat.  He knew she was excited to decorate, but some things needed to happen first.  “Go ahead and unpack the presents and I’ll move all the suitcases to the bedroom.  At the minimum, wait for Ashley, Liara, and Tali to come down to help you.  I have a feeling they will not be happy if you leave them out of the decorating process.” Shepard nodded to herself, already preparing a mental list of where the decorations would go.  

He started to make his way back to the foyer, picked up a few suitcases, and stopped halfway up the stairs to see his tiny, lovely girlfriend sizing up the towering Christmas tree, hands on her hips and head tilted toward the sky.  Spirits, did he love her.

 

Later in the evening, Garrus made his way down the stairs and saw his makeshift family busy at work.  Shepard, Tali, Liara, and Ashley were in the living room, still, putting the finishing touches on the tree.  James, Kaiden, and Hannah were in the kitchen making something that smelled amazing.  Jack, EDI, and Joker were sitting in the far side of the living room watching biotiball on a massive holo.  Garrus made his way over to Shepard and placed his hands on her shoulders and she stood assessing the tree.

 

“You were gone for a long time.”

 

“Well someone decided to pack the whole ship for a two week trip, and I needed a hot shower to regain some feeling in my hands and feet.”

 

Shepard turned around in his grasp, her eyebrows furrowed.  “And I wasn’t invited?”

 

He leaned down and gave her a kiss.  “With you there, we would’ve been gone for twice as long, and what if they decided to decorate without you?”

 

She gave a solemn nod and turned her attention back to the tree.  “Well you owe me one later.  Don’t think you’re off the hook.”

 

He released her with a chuckle.  “When am I ever off the hook?”  He glanced around briefly and took a head count.  Perplexed, he asked, “Honey, where is Legion?”

 

Before she could answer, Legion popped out from behind the tree wearing a Santa hat.  “Garrus Vakarian!  We have been optimizing the distribution of lights throughout the tree.  We believe you will find it to be operating at peak efficiency.”  

 

“It looks great, Legion,” Garrus said, casting a smirk at Shepard.  She merely shrugged her shoulders and allowed the excited Geth to continue his good work.  

 

**Christmas Eve**

 

“Garrus, dear, this smells wonderful.  I didn’t know you liked to cook,” Hannah Shepard said as she took a deep whiff of her cup of kava.

 

“I hardly believe this counts at cooking, Hannah.  From what Shepard has told me, it’s analogous to your hot chocolate.”  Garrus continued to slowly stir the large pot of kava he had on the stove, making sure all the ingredients had mixed perfectly.  “It won’t be as good as my sister’s, I can tell you that.”

 

“I’m sure she’ll love -”

 

“Mother! Can you help round up everyone so we can watch the movie?” Shepard questioned, aiming a pointed glance towards the older woman.  

 

“What? Oh. OH! Of course.” Hannah made her way out of the kitchen and gave her daughter an apologetic look.

 

“So...how’s it coming? It smells great,” Shepard said as she stuck her face near the boiling pot.  

 

“Well I’m no expert, but I’d say it’s ready to go.  Have you gotten the movie ready?”

 

Shepard nodded and grabbed a cup from the cupboard.  “Indeed I have.  It took some digging on the extranet, but I found it.  It’s a human film from a few centuries ago.  It’s an action vid set around Christmas.  I figured it would appease everyone.  Christmas, violence, funny dialogue...it’s called ‘Die Hard’.”

 

Garrus laughed as he grabbed several cups from the cupboard and began pouring the hot liquid into them.  “Yes, I suppose that’s a good choice considering our audience.”

 

Just then, the front door opened and two new voices began echoing down the hall.  Shepard placed two extra cups on the counter and made her way out of the kitchen.

 

“Quit complaining, Dad.  It’s not that cold…”

 

“Well Palaven has never...”

 

Palaven? Garrus set the pot back onto the stove and entered the hall.

 

As he rounded the corner, Shepard, Hannah, Solana, and Castis were standing together in the hallway. Shepard whipped around and threw her arms in the air.  “Surprise!”

 

Solana ran up and tackled her brother to the ground causing a loud crash to echo through the lower level of the home.  “Ha!  Surprise, idiot.  Once again, your girlfriend has out-maneuvered you.  You never knew we were coming,” she sneered as she crossed her arms over her chest.

 

Garrus chuckled and he shoved his sister to the side and stood up.  “Nice to see, too, Sol. Dad,” he said as he embraced his father.  The two Shepards were standing together, mischievous smiles plastered on their faces.  “You two!”  They froze, eyes wide.  He gave them a warm smile.  “Thank you.”

 

Shepard fist-bumped her mom and gave Garrus a kiss.  “It’s Christmas!  That means surprises and happiness, and what better way than to have your family show up unexpectedly?”

 

“Your sister and I, surprisingly enough, were not the masterminds behind this, nor did we have an option to come.  Shepard transferred the tickets to us five months ago.  I feared the repercussions if we didn’t comply,” Castis said as he gave Shepard a hug and kiss on the cheek.

 

“I tend to be persuasive,” Shepard added.

 

“That, my dear, is an understatement.”

 

Everyone in the house began milling into the kitchen to grab their cup of kava and some dual-chirality cookies Tali had made before the movie began.  Truly, Tali had outdone herself.  The cookies were cut into festive shapes and decorated to match.  Shepard stared at her options trying to decide which holiday icon she would devour.  “You and I both know you want the reindeer, Shepard.  You want to bite the antlers off,” Tali whispered in her endearing accent as she picked up a snowman and tree.

 

Reindeer! That’s what was on her sweater yesterday.  Garrus smiled to himself as he grabbed snowflake and Santa hat cookies, his cup of kava, and a fistful of napkins for the inevitable mess that would ensue.  

 

Most everyone had settled into the seating by the time Garrus arrive to the living room.  Ashley and James were cozied up on a loveseat, EDI and Joker were lounging on the couch together, Kaiden had a seat saved for Tali beside EDI, Liara and Hannah were chatting in their seats by the old fireplace, Legion was occupying Castis with numerous questions, and...the hell?

 

“Jack, are you trying to put the moves on my sister?”

 

She turned around and gave him a dirty smile.  “Come on, Garrus.  Your sister is hot, and maybe I wanna marry into the Vakarian family.  You’d marry me, right Sol?”

 

Sol covered her face and shook her head.  “Jack, now is not the time to talk about this.”

 

“Wait.  Jack?  Have you been talking to Sol?” Garrus was floored.

 

Shepard and Tali made their way into the living room before Garrus could be more horrified at the notion of Jack being with his sister.  He shivered at the thought.  

 

“Movie time!” Shepard called out as she stood in front of the holo.  “Tonight’s special will be the Earth classic, ‘Die Hard’.  Merry Christmas Eve, everyone, and ‘Welcome to the party, pal!’.”

 

Everyone offered up a round of applause as the film began and Shepard settled up against Garrus on a very comfy loveseat.  

 

Garrus leaned down to whisper in her ear.  “You know, I read about there being a big Earth tradition of dressing up as Mrs. Claus in bed.  You wear size medium, right?”  Shepard delivered a perfect jab into his side without missing a beat.  “Ouch!  Damn.  Ok.  So no outfit.”

 

Shepard rolled her eyes before giving him a kiss on his mandible.  “You’re such an asshole.  Just shut up and enjoy the movie.”

 

**Christmas Day**

 

Shepard and Garrus woke up to James jumping on their bed like it was trampoline.  “Mom! Dad! It’s Christmas! Can I open my presents now pleeeeease?”

 

Shepard leapt out of bed and hit James across the face with a pillow.  “James I swear! If you aren’t out of our room in five seconds…”

 

“You love me, Lola!” James called as he raced out of the room to the awaiting snickers of his comrades.   

 

Garrus groaned when he saw how early it was.  Having most everyone on a military schedule made it hard to sleep in even when you really wanted to.  By the time he was out of bed, Shepard was already making her way out their door in her special candy cane footie pajamas.  He followed after her, not wanting her to get too far before he could give her a good morning kiss.  He grabbed her wrist and spinned her around, catching her in a warm smooch.  “Good morning, and Merry Christmas.”

 

She blushed as she pulled back and looked into his crisp, blue eyes.  “Merry Christmas, sweetie.”  He released her to allow her to bound down the stairs like a kid on, well, Christmas morning.  

 

In the living room, everyone was gathered and in various states of dress. Joker sat by the tree shaking a box that had his name on it, EDI chastising him from her chair.  Kaiden was standing on the fringe of the group with a bowl of cereal and no shirt, hair going in 13 different directions.  Liara was swatting James and Jack away from the presents, rightfully not trusting either of them.  

 

Shepard skidded in on her padded feet, placing herself in the middle of the commotion.  “Alright everyone.  Who wants to play elf?”

 

“Shepard Commander?  We would be most pleased to be the elf,” Legion stated, tapping his hands together.

 

Shepard gave his back a pat and waved her arm in the direction of the presents.  Legion immediately began working on sorting the presents into neat piles by their respective owners, distributing everything in record time.

 

Jack biotically ripped the paper off of her first box.  She certainly was not interested in waiting around for anyone to say ‘go’.  She pulled out a simple, elegant top that had been gifted to her from Shepard and Garrus.

 

“I figured someone needed to show you what a real shirt looked like, Jack,” Garrus chided.

 

“Bite my ass, Garrus, but thanks.  It is nice..I guess.”

 

“You’re welcome, Jack,” Shepard said with a wink.

 

Wrapping paper and bows quickly littered the ground as everyone began tearing open their presents.  Surprised gasps and thank yous rang throughout the room between excited chatter.

Shepard was pleased with the new automatic fish feeder her mother gave her since her other one broke, and Garrus was overjoyed with the new sniper mods Ashley had gotten him.  

 

Not long after the chaos began, everyone quieted down once all the presents had been opened.  Liara rose to begin cleaning up the mess, but paused and peered into the tree with a confused look on her face.  “It seems like we missed one.”  She stuck her arm nearly shoulder-deep into the tree to retrieve the small box.  “Shepard, it’s for you.”

 

Shepard stood up to wade through all the paper instead of making her friend do it.  Liara gently placed the dainty box into Shepard’s hands before giving her a soft smile and returning to her seat.

 

Tearing at the meticulously wrapped paper, Shepard finally revealed the small box and carefully opened it up.  Inside was the most beautiful diamond ring on a band of silver she had ever seen.  She turned around to ask who this was from, but Garrus was already behind her.

 

He bent down on one knee and looked lovingly up into her eyes.  “Shepard...Jane.  Love of my life...Spirits I really didn’t think I’d be doing this while swimming in paper,” he laughed nervously as he pulled at the collar of his shirt.  He looked back towards her seeing big tears gathering in her eyes.

 

“Jane.  I loved you the moment I met you, but it took me a long time to realize that I was actually in love with you.  Once I figured that out, nothing else has mattered.  You’re my love, my life, my galaxy and universe.  Will you give me the great honor of being my wife?”

 

Shepard collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face and she cried out, “Yes! Yes yes yes! A thousand times, yes!”

 

Garrus gathered her in his arms and planted tender kisses along her cheeks.  Taking the box from her hands, he took out the ring and placed it on her finger, enjoying how she stretched her arm out to admire the new view.

 

Cheers, whistles, and shouts erupted from their audience as Hannah, Castis, and Sol made their way through the mess to embrace their family.  Shepard wiped the tears from her eyes as she leveled a fiery glare at Sol.  “You knew, didn’t you?”

 

“To be fair, Garrus mentioned doing this after you sent us the tickets, so he actually knew we were coming.  By the way, nice bit of acting, everyone,” Sol said as she gave her brother a loving punch to the shoulder.

 

Shepard laughed into her hands as she took it all in.  She looked to Garrus, his eyes trained on her.  She laughed self-consciously before asking, “Is something wrong?”

 

He took her left hand in both of his, never breaking eye contact, and gave her delicate hand a kiss.  “No.  Everything is perfect.”

 

**New Year’s Eve**

 

The Citadel could be crowded, but nothing rivalled Times Square on New Year’s Eve.  Garrus felt claustrophobic with all of their friends jammed so closely together, surrounded by tens of thousands of people, but the energy of the night was intoxicating.

 

Shepard pulled him out his thoughts as the ball began to drop.  She grabbed him by the lapels of his thick jacket yelling out the numbers as the mirrored ball descended into the waiting crowd.  Her eyes caught the dazzling lights of the city as she looked around excitedly at all of the wonder.  She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.

 

As the seconds ticked down, the chanting grew louder.  “TEN! NINE! EIGHT!..”

 

Garrus grabbed Shepard by the shoulders and shouted above the noise of the crowd.  “Jane! You are the best thing to ever come into my life..”

 

“THREE! TWO! ONE!..”

 

“...and I can’t wait to spend every day of the rest of my life with you!” Garrus called as the streamers and confetti shot into the air.  Shepard reached up and hauled him down for a desperate kiss, letting the confetti collect in her hair as she kissed the man she would one day get to call her husband.  Garrus hummed in happiness as he kissed her back with every ounce of love he felt for her, enjoying the first moment of the year they would be husband and wife.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This was a procrastination piece I wrote in a day because my main fic needs some plot work. I mention kava in here, and I am deeply sorry that I cannot recall nor find who came up with that idea first, but I see it in several Garrus-centric fics. Whomever you are - insert credit due here.Leave me a comment/kudos if you enjoyed it - it would mean the world! Happy Holidays, everyone!


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